5 foot-in-mouth comments for 2007
by Miki Saxon
OK, I admit it, I enjoy it when a pundit sticks his foot in his mouth and ends up with egg on his face—even if I have to wait a whole year for it to happen. It helps me put my own goofs in perspective. Here, courtesy of Business Week, are my favorites ordered my way, but including their BW rankings.
12 “But [it] is very likely that oil prices will range in the medium term around an average of $40…. In the long run it could even be $25 to $30.”
LORD BROWNE, CEO, BP, June 12, 2006. Oil prices averaged $70-plus a barrel in 2007.
5 “We do notexpect significant spillovers from the subprime market to the rest of the economy or to the financial system.”
BEN BERNANKE, Federal Reserve Chairman, May 17, 2007. A global credit crunch began three months later.
3 “The media’s great love affair with the Nintendo Wii is beginning to sour…. There are whispers that the device is tiring and gimmicky.”
TYLER TODD, video-game columnist, The Gazette (Montreal), Oct. 14, 2006. Press reviews stayed positive in 2007, and buyers stood in line for the console for the second year in a row.
4 “AMZN is a stock that continues to live on borrowed time.”
TIM BOYD, Caris & Co. analyst in a report about the stock of Amazon.com on Oct. 26, 2006, when the company’s shares were at 38.50. On Dec. 17, 2007, Amazon shares were trading at 85.09.
9 “The steady improvement in [home] sales will support price appreciation…[despite]…all the wild projections by academics, Wall Street analysts, and others in the media.”
DAVID LEREAH, chief economist, National Association of Realtors, Jan. 10, 2007. Housing prices steadily worsened, falling even farther than many skeptics had predicted.
Now look at what you predicted that didn’t come true. Isn’t it great? There’s no way any of us got our feet further into our mouths than these guys.
What’s your favorite foot-in-mouth experience?
Your comments—priceless
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January 13th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
I think I told someone that blogs can’t keep expanding. I feel like a heel with no sole as blogs evolve into a stronger and stronger medium and mainstrem media not only relies on bloggers but is presenting their information in a blog-like structure.
January 13th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
David, someone, somewhere says that about EVERY new thing that comes along. And for the record, you have both sole and soul!
January 13th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
The problem with this list is that at least two of these guys (Bernanke and Browne) had the influence and a strong interest in trying to make self-realizing prophecies. It turns out they failed and that’s probably a good thing.
Nonetheless, I love the previsions made by “analysts” for “journalists” to sell paper because they stay on record so you get a good laugh and they happen every year (more often than not by the same people). One of my prefered is Rob Enderle (read this and then google it, it is worth it even though it reflects badly on wikipedia…).
January 13th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
And to think I helped start Rob on his way to being an industry pundit way, way back in the previous century when I was a headhunter and I placed him at Dataquest.
But it is nice to know that we can count on repetitive, predictive levity to lighten the rest of the news.
January 14th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
My favorite would be the Ninetendo Wii prediction. As it goes, isn’t the Queen in love with Wii as well? And I heard that more and more senior citizens are having a fabulous time with it as well. How’s that for sour and gimmicky?
January 14th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
Oh, Jean, I do so agree. Almost every day I read an article about who is using Wii—everyone loves it. Nitendo is smart! They know that the world is not populated by hardcore gamers:)